'It was embarrassing asking someone to fetch me a second slice of cake': Nigella on how bunion surgery helped her shed the pounds

Nigella Lawson has finally opened up about the secret to her recent weight loss - bunion surgery.

Contrary to reports of drastic dieting, the television cook has admitted that being unable to wander into her kitchen for snacks and seconds following the painful operation led to her shedding the pounds.

Speaking to the audience at the Vogue Festival in London last night, the 52-year-old revealed: 'I have indeed lost weight. Almost a year ago, I had a very glamorous operation - a double bunionisation.'

Couldn't walk to the fridge: Nigella Lawson has revealed that having to stay off her feet following bunion surgery is the real reason behind her weight loss

'I couldn’t walk to the fridge afterwards,' Nigella explained, according to The Telegraph.'Actually, it’s quite a good diet; not because I stopped eating, but because you can say to someone, "Can you get me a slice of cake?" but it’s kind of embarrassing to say, "And now could you get me a second slice?"

She added: 'Then when I did start hobbling around, I had to feel I was hungry to go to the fridge. And that was quite good, because I suppose it trains you a bit.

'So I haven’t really eaten any different, but I had fewer opportunities to eat.'

Interviewed by Kirsty Young at the event, Nigella said that the stress of filming her latest TV series, Nigella Kitchen, caused to gain weight last year.

'It's like someone has taken a bicycle pump to me': Nigella admitted the stress of her TV series caused her to gain weight last year (left)

'When you film you get so tired, and there’s something about lack of
sleep and stress that just makes me put on weight even though my eating
doesn’t change,' she said.

'It’s very annoying, and like someone has
taken a bicycle pump to me.'

Despite her slim down, the Domestic Goddess won't be swapping that infamous burkini for a bikini any time soon.

Referring to the unflattering pictures taken on the beach in Sydney last year, Lawson joked: 'If I put it on now I’d look much the same in that wet burkini, useful though it was.'

Nigella has also relied on a personal trainer and regular pilates classes to help her slim down, but her attitude to food has not changed. The star has always said that she values the pleasure of food over fitting into skinny jeans, and feared losing too much weight would be ageing.

'There are times when I want to lose weight,' she admitted earlier this year. 'I suppose the difference is I don't want to be as thin. Greed always outweighs my vanity.'

She added: 'If I decided to lose weight, I would be letting someone down.’